Borne Of Fire

The sun burned in the sky, seeming so assertive to stay in the middle of the sky, as if it were planning on staying there forever. Three cats were heaving and dragging themselves across a wide stretch of earth that was seemingly a Twoleg path. Trees were scarcely dotted here and there, only providing shade on the path on rare occasion. One of the cats, a small fae, was in the lead, and three larger tom-cats were behind her, alongside a semi-young she-cat who was on the large side.

"When will we get there?" The apprentice whined loudly, her ears flattened to her head tightly.

"Soon, Jackalpaw, stay calm my apprentice," one of the toms, a seemingly elderly one, lightly nudged her on her light-brown, dusty pelt. "How does MothClan live here, I swear," one of the others added under his breath. The other tomcat cast him a glare. "Escuse me, Zeroflick, but I happen to be the MothClan medicine cat, if you forgot."

The lead she-cat seemed minorly annoyed by the talking, flitting her head to her side occasionally. Her light green eyes saw motion, and she tensed her muscles, but kept walking, flicking her tail to hint to the others to stay alert, and quiet, in case a patrol saw them. She calmed a bit, when the motions of felines didn't re-appear, and she saw a low dip in the ground.

"Ohh, Kacklefang, is this it?!" Jackalpaw squealed with delight, her brown-hued ears perking straight up like satellites. She spoke to the elderly tom.
The two other tom-cats exchanged amused glances at each other, as if her delight was new to the both of them. As the five felines approached the small dip, there was the slightest shine in the brink of their sight, and there was a lake.

"Jackalpaw, this, is where we meet with StarClan, as I mentioned- Shining Water."

Zeroflick grinned, and looked at the dark gray tomcat beside him. "Jaywhisker, you seem more delighted than usual."

The dark grey tom-cat, Jaywhisker, cast him a brief smile. The group walked up. The blue-grey lead she-cat watched as her companions walked up, and licked the water's surface, and Kacklefang explaining it to Jackalpaw. Once they're asleep, off I go... She thought to herself, impatience making her whiskers twitch. Jaywhisker cast her a glance before he lapped the water, but didn't question her.

It took hardly seconds before all of them were asleep, drifted off, and dreaming who-knows-what. A small smile flicked across the fae's facials, and she darted a few meters off, tail bolt upright. There was a tomcat, running at her, and the second they saw each other, they touched noses.

"Oh, Vixenstripe, it feels like ages since we last saw each other," His panting, out-of-breath voice was mixed with affection.
"It's only been a moon, you silly tomcat," She nuzzled him gently, and flicked his nose with her tail as she walked back to the lake.

"As usual, I'll see you once I'm done," Vixenstripe nodded to him, and he sat down in a low crouch to watch.
Lapping up the water gently, Vixenstripe felt the world fall away from her paws, and into a darkness. Then, a little fire lit in front of her, and the scents of burning wood filled her senses, making her fur rise. Many little voices in her head, all congregated into one, and she hissed under her breath as they whispered, Fire will burn, Fire will destroy, but within it all, one feline will stand, not one hair on her pelt a-lit. It chanted at her.

The fire burned brighter, until she was in a burning woods, trapped within the terrible blaze. Jolting awake, she watched as her companions awoke, and she saw they had pleased looks on their faces mostly, as if their dreams had been good. Vixenstripe bit her lip, and awaited her companions to leave first, before she looked darted off, to see if the tom-cat was still there. She had the dream in the back of her head, but dared not miss the opportunity to see him.

"Hacklewing, I'm back~" She whispered quietly. He smiled at her, and licked her cheek. Vixenstripe felt a sudden pang of guilt and anxiety, and she sighed. "Oh, Hacklewing, how long could we possibly keep all this a secret? Some day, the kits will come, whether we like it or-" Hacklewing hushed her, drawing his tail over her muzzle. "It'll be fine, Vixenstripe, don't worry your ears off."

Chapter 1

"Blazekit, catch up, we can't wait forever!" A she-kit jeered, a grin on her face, yet friendly. A small, orange she-kit, with a white splotch over her left eye, sprinted up, out of breath. "Sorry, Hazelkit, I didn't mean to," She panted, only pausing when she looked up at her sister. Blazekit smiled a tiny bit, her mis-matched eyes glimmering.

Blazekit giggled gently. "Onekit, I don't understand your rush, all the warriors around here are lazy, and fat~". The other two kits looked disgusted at her, and Blazekit bit her lip.

"S-Sorry, but it's true..! Papa is the only good warrior," She hesitated, grimacing at the skeptical look Hazelkit gave her. Suddenly, the mood lightened. "Okay, I can't lie, I wanna be just like father someday! He's great!" Onekit squealed with delight.

The two fae's giggled at their singular brother's enthusiasm. "I am Hacklewing, warrior of MothClan!" Hazelkit mocked the deep voice of a grown tom-cat, her dusty black pelt with white markings puffing out to look twice her size. Onekit ran in a circle, then froze.

They all looked up, to see a small patrol of felines, who looked down at them with angry, and frightened looks. The three kits immediately huddled together, and the silence was deathly, till one of the warriors spoke. "Onekit, Blazekit, Hazelkit, you naughty kits! You worried Vixenstripe to death!" A pure white tomcat snarled, walking up and nudging them.

"If you ever expect to be warriors of GustClan, you better tidy your haunches up off the ground and come with us." A she-cat meowed quietly. "But I heard stories about Dad, he used to sneak off all the ti-" Onekit began, before getting exasperated looks. "Who told you about him, Onekit?"

"Uh..." Onekit exchanged glances with his sisters. They had heard it from Vixenstripe, their mother, but they were certain that she wasn't supposed to tell them. Blazekit butted in the conversation, her mismatched eyes wide like moons as always. "You told us, of course!" she pointed his tail at one of the she-cats, who flattened her ears in confusion.

"Hush with the lies, dumb kit," The confused fae instantly scoffed, indignantly raising her nose to the sky. Everyone went silent briefly, as if they all expected each one other to say something.

Then the pure white tomcat sighed and picked up Blazekit with silence. His tail-tip kinked, hinting for his companions to pick up Onekit and Hazelkit. "Aww, Snowtooth, let us stay and hunt for our ClanMates!" BlazeKit squealed with remorse, ears flattened to her orange fur. The large white tomcat merely kept walking, his Clan-Mates in behind.

Chapter 2

"I will be the best warrior, EVER," Onekit purred, as the three kits worked on grooming each other. "Liar, I will be. And HazelKit will be the healer to back up our actions!" BlazeKit demanded with the biggest grin she could summon. "Fine, then I'll be the leader. OneStar!" He jumped, slightly smacking HazelKit in the face in her mid-licking. "HazelKit will be HazelBloom! And Blazekit will be Blaze-dirt!"

"That doesn't make any sense, mouse-brain!" Blazekit demanded loudly, snorting and looking outside of the nursery. "To think, later today, we'll be apprentices!"